


Freedom's Just Another Word (For Nothing Left to Lose)

by Telaryn



Category: Leverage
Genre: Arrested, Backstory, Blackmail, F/F, FBI Agent Tara Cole, First Kiss, First Meetings, Headcanon, Pre-Series
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-02-12
Updated: 2018-02-12
Packaged: 2019-03-17 05:38:06
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,004
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13652523
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Telaryn/pseuds/Telaryn
Summary: The fated first meeting of Tara Cole and Sophie Devereaux didn't take place in some exotic nightclub in a far off country.  Handcuffs were involved though - handcuffs, a kiss, and a favor coerced with the promise of a walk away from federal custody.  Sophie might have to burn her favorite alias when it's all over, but that doesn't mean she can't have a little fun along the way.





	Freedom's Just Another Word (For Nothing Left to Lose)

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Melime GreenLeaf (Melime)](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Melime/gifts).



> Obviously I went with your prompt of "Pre-series Tara and Sophie running a con together". Time and length limitations prevented me from getting fully into the con, although what we were left with is the tale of an interesting and historic first meeting.
> 
> I hope you enjoy the results - thank you for playing with us this round!

The FBI. All the law enforcement agencies she could have run afoul of, the private security firms, and here she was sitting in an interrogation room of the bloody FBI. The handcuffs securing her to the table meant that she actually had to rest her hands on the stained and scarred wooden table; Sophie tried hard not to imagine the sorts of things that might be in contact with her skin as the minutes ticked by into hours.

The door finally opened as the last threads of her patience were shredding away. “Ms. Devereaux. How are we doing?”

She didn’t openly sneer at the man, but it was a near thing. “Agent Nowicki. I’ve been here for hours without food, drink, or a chance to relieve myself. Not to mention I requested my attorney be contacted close to five hours ago.” She smiled, but it was a cold one, and Sophie was pleased to see the agent in charge draw up in fear before remembering himself. “Tell me sir, how should I be?”

It took Nowicki a moment to collect himself, so that he could step confidently into the room. “There seems to be, um, a problem with your attorney, Ms. Devereaux. Mr. Yi has several outstanding warrants in this district for everything from fraud to money laundering.”

Sophie couldn’t even manage to look surprised. It wasn’t like she knew many people – even lawyers – who lived entirely on the legal side of the line. That didn’t mean she was ready to concede defeat, however. “Well, Agent Nowicki, I suggest you get busy and find me another attorney,” she told him. “I’m not saying one word until you do.”

 _Oh, here we go,_ she thought, barely able to stop herself from rolling her eyes as – instead of doing as she commanded – Agent Nowicki settled himself into the chair across from her, crossing his arms over his chest and staring her down. “I have an offer for you, Ms. Devereaux. One that would absolve you of the charges pending against you right now and give you a head start on any other agency currently looking for you.”

Instinct prompted Sophie not to conceal her surprise. “You want my help with something?” Assuming she could believe him, the offer was a tempting one. It certainly left her with more options than trying to work her way through the system with the kind of lawyer she could dig up while behind bars. “Assume I’m not going to tell you what you can do with your offer,” she said finally.

Reaching over, Nowicki pressed a button on the intercom panel. “Agent Cole, would you join us please?”

Sophie’s first impression of Special Agent Tara Cole was a woman who had learned early how to hide her true potential. Everything from her over-sized glasses to her make-up and the blond hair drawn back in a tight ponytail was calculated to make her indistinguishable from her FBI colleagues.

“Agent Cole, I’d like to introduce you to Sophie Devereaux – grifter and art thief.”

Frankly blue eyes looked Sophie over from behind glass that she belatedly realized was entirely for effect. “Is Sophie the name you want us to use? Or do you have another that you would be more comfortable with?”

It was sharp, insightful, and in a surprising turn of events – respectful. Sophie started to clap her hands, but the handcuffs brought her up short again. “Sophie is fine, Agent Cole,” she said, trying to put aside her momentary frustration.

“Actually,” Agent Nowicki interjected, “we’re going to need Jenny Agutter for this job.”

 _Bollocks,_ Sophie thought, but outwardly her expression never broke. “Then I suggest you lock her in this fetid little room and bore her to tears.”  
****************************************  
She was magnificent. Tara nearly laughed out loud at her response to Nowicki’s assumption she would automatically confirm that she was jewel thief, swindler, and all around con artist Jenny Agutter.

The problem was, the Bureau needed her. Needed Jenny. More importantly and more personally _Tara_ needed what this woman brought to the table. “Agent Nowicki, why don’t you let me brief Ms. Devereaux about your proposal?”

He was her superior, and for a long moment Tara thought he was going to fight her suggestion. Finally, though, he got to his feet. “You girls have a good chat. I’ll be back in fifteen minutes, and I _expect_ we’ll all be on the same page by then.”

Tara blew out a quiet breath as the door to the interrogation room closed. She wanted to roll her eyes, create the opening for a bond with their prisoner, but she suspected Sophie Devereaux would reject such an amateur move – and besides, they were still being closely observed. “Ms. Devereaux,” she said, settling into her professional persona and taking the seat Nowicki had abandoned, “we’ve lost contact with one of our undercover agents. He’s been under with the Badalucci crime family for nearly a year. Opening the file she’d brought in with her, she fished out a surveillance photo showing Sophie Devereaux in cutting edge red and black club wear. Her arm was around the neck of a younger, powerfully built man and she was talking to a young, similarly dressed woman.

“This is you, with Gino Badalucci,” Tara said, spinning the photo and sliding it across the table. Sophie made to reach for it, then scowled as she was brought up short again by the cuffs. “Taken six months ago in the Soho district of New York City,” she continued, deciding not to act on the impulse to un-cuff the prisoner.

“You look very friendly.”

She sensed a softening in the woman sitting opposite her. “Gino is a sweet boy. His mother convinced the Don that he would be more valuable to the organization with a proper education.”

Tara pointed to one of the men standing back and watching the exchange. His face was turned away from the camera, but she could still sketch in his features – even though she hadn’t done more than Skype with him in the past year. “That man is Agent Matthew Cole. He’s missed his last three check-ins, and there’s been no sign of him for nearly a month.”

When she looked up again, Sophie’s gaze had gone shrewd, calculating; even though her expression was still maddeningly neutral. “Brother or husband?”

Tara hadn’t risen in the FBI by being squeamish or overly emotional – she didn’t shrink from the question. “Husband. Our fourth wedding anniversary was last week.”

Sophie cocked her head. “And they’re letting you participate in an operation for his rescue?”

It was a fair question. Tara settled back into her seat. “One of the things Jenny Agutter is known for is her…fluid…and open sexuality. Our intel says that you and Gino parted on friendly terms – the belief is that if you bring me around as your current girlfriend, it wouldn’t be questioned.”  
*********************************  
They knew too much. Sophie had always suspected Jenny would be a problem someday, which was why she tended to restrict her movements to eastern Europe. Gino…Gino had been an exception. She’d met him on Jenny’s home ground in Prague. Smelling a potential mark, she had agreed to accompany him back to New York after a two week stay in his family’s villa on the Italian Riviera.

It had taken just shy of three months for Sophie to understand that she’d miscalculated. On his own Gino was the whole package – sweetly romantic without making her want to kill herself, intelligent, adventurous, and weirdly trusting of the opposite sex.

On his own, he was a perfect mark.

The trouble was, he didn’t come as a solo act. And by the time Jenny had been summoned for a one-on-one conference with Papa Badalucci, she understood that any payback for stealing from Gino would come from much higher up people and more powerful places than she was prepared to deal with.

_We did part on friendly terms, though…_

“I want the deal for my freedom in writing,” she said, finally. “Details to be hammered out to my satisfaction and filed with an independent attorney of my choosing.” She had people in New York that she could ask for recommendations.

Agent Cole held it together, but Sophie clocked the micro-expressions that screamed her relief at Sophie’s acquiescence. Still hampered by the damn handcuffs, Sophie held up a finger. “I work with you, and only you,” she said, catching the young woman’s gaze once more and holding it. “Non-negotiable.”

“I’ll see what I can do.”

It ended up taking the better part of two days to work out all the details to Sophie’s satisfaction, and the nights she spent in an FBI holding cell were enough to convince her that she never wanted to spend another second in custody if she could possibly avoid it.

The hotel they’d selected was appropriate, which did nothing to relieve Sophie’s frustration with the whole mess. She was going to have to burn Jenny once this sordid business was over. It wasn’t the first time she’d lost one of her aliases and it certainly wouldn’t be the last, but it galled when she had to take them out because of somebody else had out maneuvered her.

“I’m going to have to go shopping,” she announced as her guards walked her into the sitting area of the suite. Agent Nowicki apparently hadn’t finished trying to annoy her; he’d insisted she be transported in cuffs. “Jenny requires a very specific look.”

Agent Cole was waiting for them. She had dressed down somewhat from her FBI persona, but Sophie knew they were still going to have to figure out a character for her. _Something believable. Something Jenny wouldn’t be able to resist._ “We can go after you’ve had a chance to eat and clean up.” Even behind the ridiculously large glasses, Agent Cole was able to fix Sophie’s guards with a truly terrifying glare.

Sophie felt a surge of gratitude for the assistance as her guards finally moved away. “I bought a few things to start you off with,” the younger woman admitted as Sophie rubbed at her sore wrists. “They should be close enough.”  
*****************************  
Something in Tara’s chest that had been tight ever since learning that they’d lost contact with Matt finally loosened once she and Sophie were alone. “So,” the other woman asked, looking her over. “I’ve been meaning to ask – what makes you think I won’t run at the first available opportunity?”

Tara shrugged. “Nothing that would make any sense. A feeling? Hope that you would see Nowicki’s offer is a good one?”

Sophie began walking slowly towards her. Tara felt her heart-rate speed up with each step she took. “Not a hope that I would feel sorry for your situation?”

Swallowing hard, Tara shook her head. “You don’t know me. There’s no reason for you to feel sorry for me.” _What’s happening?_ She blinked, and suddenly Sophie was inside her personal space…and even though Tara couldn’t have put voice to what she was seeing, she wasn’t entirely Sophie anymore _Too close._

“I like the librarian thing,” she said, her voice low and husky. “We can work with that.” Reaching up, she slid Tara’s glasses off. “How about you, little mouse? Do you think you are talented enough to convince Gino we are lovers?”

She wasn’t imagining things – there was a hint of an accent to Sophie’s voice now. “I think so,” Tara managed.

“Even if your life depended on it?” Threading her fingers into the fall of Tara’s blond hair, Sophie pulled her in for a kiss. Understanding on some level that she was being tested, Tara didn’t resist.

It wasn’t the first time she’d kissed a woman, although it had been a while, and truthfully this time she really couldn’t say she was the one doing the kissing. “Sophie,” she moaned softly, when the older woman finally let her draw breath.

“Jenny,” she countered, crowding Tara against the table. “There’s no Sophie here, love. Not anymore. Best you remember that.”


End file.
